As for example, the area around what is now Kalakar Street was known as Dhakapattys, as it was home to the Sahas, cloth merchants from Dhaka.

The Sheths and Basaks had close links with such cloth producing centres as Dhaka, Murshidabad and Cossimbazar.

[3] With crime a major problem in Burrabazar till 2008, the police station[4] had a rough time.

[5] More than 50,000 merchants from across the country have been attracted to Burrabazar because of the immense business opportunities but musclemen have followed them to the trade hub.

From providing protection to businessmen and transporting their black money to running a satta (form of betting) racket and settling property and payment disputes, these men, mostly from the neighbouring states, start off as confidantes of the trading community.

Most of these are small traders, from across the Hooghly River and they carry back goods for sale in their localities.

While lorries, taxis, vans and three-wheel goods carriers crowd the main roads, slow-moving vehicles like cycle-vans and carts clog the side-streets.

[9] On 31 March 2016, a flyover on Vivekananda Road near Burrabazar collapsed, killing 22 people and injuring many more.

However, the number of fires during pujas has gone down considerably in recent times due to imposition of the fire-safety norms.

[16] A fire devastated the five floors of Bagree Market in September 2018, affecting some 500 traders, who lost 2-5 billion rupees, and about 3,000 staff.

[12] The All India Federation of Tax Practitioners organised a free helpline for the traders who lost their documents and found it difficult to prepare their accounts.